Emerging market focused fund groups have endured a torrid year with sharply lower assets under management at Aberdeen and Ashmore. Emerging market exchange traded funds have also suffered heavy redemptions, with investors pulling $9.5bn from BlackRock’s iShares MSCI Emerging Markets and Vanguard’s FTSE Emerging Markets, according to ETF.com.
People have been predicting consolidation in this very fragmented sector for years and there have indeed been big mergers recently. But there is little doubt that price pressures on City law firms are intensifying.